Reading Marcia Willett always takes me to a more peaceful place. This one is a little different than some of her novels, because it includes a bit of a mystery involving childhood memories and unexplained nightmares. Somehow I didn't find it quite as satisfying as Summer in the Country or A Week in Winter. I felt like it was a little bit incomplete, like I was on the outside looking in at a story that I couldn't quite be a part of and characters whose emotions I couldn't quite get to the heart of. Did I dislike it? Not at all. Willett creates an ambiance reminiscent of Rosamund Pilcher and her characters are endearing, if a bit remote. Milo and Lottie, with their decades old friendship, are an odd couple that is not actually a couple. Milo's old lover, Venetia, appears frequently and seems rightly oblivious to any romantic threat from Lottie, while Lottie's sister Susanna, ex-wife of Milo and mother of Nick, remains on the periphery of the story, embittered, impatient, and demanding. Mark and Imogen are the grown children of the late Helen and Tom, whose lives intertwined over the years with Milo's and Lottie's. Each in the middle of their own crises. Introspective Mark is unable to commit to a relationship and suffering from a lack of inspiration after writing a hugely successful first novel. New mother Imogen and her husband, Jules, are unable to come to a meeting of the minds regarding where to live, and Nick adds another layer of complication to their already strained existence.
This is not Willett's best effort, in my opinion, but I'm glad that I didn't pass it by. It left me feeling like there is another book left unwritten out there somewhere, but perhaps that's a story that Willett is reserving for the future. The sense of place and strong emotional bonds between the characters are very appealing and it did leave me thinking about what what might eventually happen in Mark's life. In my book, any novel that makes me want more can be considered a winner!
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